Improved apparatus for removing hair from hides



- lUNrTED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

SAML. s. wEED, oE sroNEHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOE To HiMsELE, EDGAR M. STEVENS, AND JAMES L. HALL.

IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR R'EMOVING HAIR FROM HIDES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 49,839, dated September 5, 1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, S. S. VVEED, of Stoneham, in the county ot' Middlesex andState of Massachusetts, have invented a new and use! ful Machine for Removing Hair from Hides; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a front elevation, and Fig. 2 a side elevation.

Like parts are indicated by the same letters in both drawings.

After skins or hides have been limed they are usually laid upon a convex table or beam, and the hair is removed or scraped off and the lime pressed out by hand by means ot' a long scraper or knife, which is a slow and laborious operation.

The nature lof my invention therefore consists in removing or scraping oit' the hair by means ot' a rotating cylinder covered with rubber, the skin or hide being moved along and pressed against said cylinder by any suitable means, whereby the operation ot' removing the hair is performed much more rapidly and cheaply than by the usual method.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will now describe its construction and operation.

A is the foundation of the machine, or the iloor of the room in which it stands.

- B B are the sides, of wood or metal, from four to eight feet (more or less) apart, and connected by means of the bar C.

D is a large cylinder, of wood or metal, the axis of which turns in suitable bearings in the top of the frame B B. This cylinder I propose to cover with india-rubber about one-fourth of an inch in thickness, (more or less,) so as to yield to the inequalities of thickness in the diierent parts of a hide or skin and afford the greatest amount of adhesion; or the feed-roller Kmay be covered with rubber instead of the cylinder D.

E is a pulley or crank by means of which the cylinder D is rotated by hand or other power.

F is a c0gwheel fast to one end of the axle of D.

Gr is an intermediate pinion, of the same diameter as F, with which it engages, and turning on a pin projecting from the side of the frame B, as shown in Fig. 2.

H is another cog-wheel, twice the diameter of G, and fast to one end of the axle of' the upper feed-roller, I, as shown in the drawings.

.I J are boxes in which turn the ends of the axle of I, said boxes being inserted in vertical slots in the frame B B, and held down by means oi' rubber pads between them and the caps a a.

' K is the lower feed-roller, of the same diameter as I, the ends or axle of which rest in sernicircular bearin gs in the ends of the levers L L, the latter being pivoted to the sides of the frame B B, as represented by the dotted line in Fig. 2. There is also a vertical slot in the frame B, to allow the ends of the axle of K to rise and fall to accommodate itself to the va rying thickness of skins. These rollers I and K are made of wood or metal, either with or without a rubber covering; or the feed-rollers may be entirely dispensed with and a iiat or concave table substituted therefor, the skin being laid upon it and moved along by hand.

N (see Fig. 2) is a rod connecting the back ends of the levers L L.

I is a treadle connected with the levers L L by means ot the rod O.

Q isa spring by means of which the treadle is raised.

R is acog-wheel attached to one end of the axle of I and S is a similar cog-wheel attached to the end of the axle of K. Thus by depress ing the treadle P it is obvious that the roller K will be raised so as to come in contact with the roller I and cylinder D, and the two cog-` wheels R and S will be meshed together, as shown in Fig. l.

W is a rotary brush the two ends of Whose axis turn in suitable bearings in the frame B B. This brush is intended to slightly graze the cylinder D and remove therefrom any hair or other substance which may adhere thereto.

T is a pulley fast to the axis ofthe cylinder D, and Y is a smaller pulley fast to the end of the axle of the brush W.

U is a belt or band passing from T to Y, by means of which the brush is rotated.

The operation of the machine is as fol-lows: The edge of the hide or skin is inserted, hair side up, between the feed-rollers I and K. The operator then depresses the treadle with his foot, which presses the hair side of the skin against the cylinder D and brings the cogwheels R and S together. Thus, as the periphery ot' the cylinder D moves faster than that of the feed-rolls and the skin, it is obvious that as the skin is fed along the hair will be ecotually removed therefrom by the cylinder D, and drop down under the machine, performing the operation of removing the hair many times faster and cheaper than by the usual method ot' performing the same by hand. My machine also presses out the lime While removing the hair.

Having thus described the construction and SAMUEL S. WEED.

Witnesses:

N. AMES, GEO. R. CLARKE. 

